Environmental Protection Agency

Michael Goo, Associate Administrator, Office of Policy

Goo, 51, was an experienced veteran of the Capitol Hill climate-change and energy wars by the time he joined EPA in 2011. Most recently, he served as the staff director and chief counsel for the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming (a panel created when the Democrats controlled the House; it was disbanded when Republicans took over the chamber). Working for the committee's chairman, then-Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., Goo played a key role in drafting and negotiating the sweeping Waxman-Markey climate-change bill, which passed the House in 2009. Before that, Goo was the climate legislative director for the Natural Resources Defense Council and did a stint on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. From 2001 to 2006, he was the minority counsel for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, responsible for all matters arising under the Clean Air Act—background that will be essential to deal with the carbon regulations of Obama's second term. During the Clinton administration, Goo was special assistant to the general counsel at EPA and transitioned to a career position for the Air and Radiation Law Office in EPA's Office of General Counsel. Goo, a St. Louis native, graduated from Washington University School of Law and graduated cum laude from Vassar College.